Saul Stokes - Zo Pilots ... I dearly love this album and have listened to it countless times. I distinctly remember one winter where Heidi and I had to drive to Chicago for a birthday party and we were hit with a blizzard... it took a couple hours longer than normal to get there, visibility wasn't any further than the front of the car, sometimes Heidi had to help me find the edge of the road (and yet there were still idiots trying to pass? sheesh). An amazingly stressful drive - and I just put Zo Pilots on repeat - it helped me remain focused on driving and calm. I love this album.

Saul Stokes - Outfolding ... no stories for this one - but I spin it nearly as often as Zo Pilots.

Plastikman - Consumed ... more on the minimal techno side of things - but it feels "ambient" to me. I like to describe this albums as making me feel like I'm driving late at night through a foggy forest with no other cars on the road.

Forma Tadre - Automate ... while his first album Navigator was more on par with industrial/ebm, Automate is a somewhat dark sci-fi film soundtrack sounding album that I love.

Eno/Budd - The Pearl ... gorgeous - although I've only owned it a couple years now, this is the one I return to repeatedly.

Vidna Obmana - Surreal Sanctuary ... first half of the album. I can listen to those first 4 tracks over and over and over and over. Gorgeous, beautiful, melancholy. The rest of the album isn't bad in any way - but there's just something utterly amazing about the first few tracks.

Jonathan Hughes - Trillium ... I can't count the number of times I've listened to this beautiful album and highly recommend it.

For my own part, I want to ignore things on my classics list from pre-2000, since I don't want to make a list of all the stuff we already know about and fete already (ie Dreamtime Return, Rubycon, etc.).

So, just off the top of my head, and much of this stuff is still unsung:

- Gas: Pop- Marcus Guentner: In Moll (the new Doppelgaenger will join this)- Pub: everything- Keith Berry: The Ear That Was Sold To A Fish- Biosphere: I rotate through them all- Eluvium: Life Through Bombardment (to add them all)- Jeff Greinke: Soundtracks- Last Days: everything- Loscil: I rotate through them- Martinez: Solaris soundtrack- Múm: everything- Murcof: Remembranza- Nest: Nest- Off The Sky: a number of things- Max Richter: everything- Roedelius: Jardin au Fou- Saul Stokes: I rotate through them- Stars of the Lid: Tired and Their refinement- Philip Weigl: everything

I expect there is more, but these jumped out when I eyed my hard drive.I'd add a bunch from DataObscura, but modesty forbids.

Artists that are always in circulation;KraftwerkStars of the LidTetsu InoueAlio DieEnoBuddCocteau TwinsDavid SylvainNamlookBiosphereRapoonRoachRichVir UnisMy all time fav ambient would be Biosphere-Substrata

steve roach - structures from silence - there are many roach albums I am incredibly attached to, but if I was forced to choose one...one of the most beautiful records I've ever heard.stars of the lid - refinement, tired sounds - massive slabs (triple vinyl!) of intricate drone. I've listened to these numerous times and never gotten fatigued (okay, only when under the covers!). I listen to refinement frequently when I'm out on the job. aphex twin - 2 - needs no explanation. this album was my personal bombshell, first ambient album I'd heard and still more engaging than most of the other stuff I've ever heard since. constance demby - sunborne, sanctum sanctuorum - sunborne is an incredible flowing piece of music, very celebratory and unique. her voice is lovely. sanctum is a little cheesy with the gregorian voices and the "hallelujah's," but it works to transport me to an incredibly peaceful place. eno - music for airports - minimal ambient at it's finest, in my opinion. played this more than anything in college. still love it almost as much as my pillow. kevin drumm - imperial distortion - the aphex twin 2 of the new century? maybe. budd - serpent (in quicksilver) - something peculiar about this one that begs repeated listens from me. a number of different moods to the tracks that somehow work together. windy and carl - consciousness - they sculpted something incredible out of those guitars for this one! rejuvenates me every time I hear it. aloof proof - piano text - crystal clear beauty. vidna obmana - river of appearance - I didn't like this one at first. I thought it sounded a little forced and melodramatic, perhaps a little new age in a bad way? Over time (and listening to it at work helped) It's grown to be an indispensable piece of music. Couldn't live without this one now. milieu - beyond the sea lie the stars - thank you brian grainger (spelling?) and infraction for this onemwvm - rotations - kind of came out of nowhere, bought it and instantly loved it. put out another!lustmord - place where the black stars hang - needs no explanation, great stuffsans serif - tones for lamonte - still in love with this ethereal, thin metallic drone worktim hecker - harmony in ultraviolet - a woolly mammoth crushing my brain! let's listen again, shall we?rosy parlane - jessamine - this had been blowing me away, but I haven't listened to it in a while. Still, I'll call it a classic just for the hype, because I feel that way right now...christopher bissonnette - in between words - quite bonded with this one right now and ready to hear whatever comes out of his speakers from now on.

Albums that I have listened to time and time again and never got tired off

Global Communication - 76:14 I feel like I am trapped on a recently deserted islandEnigma - Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! Not ambient per say but a really nice relaxed world albumDreamfish - Dreamfish Hymn floors me every time. For a track that is close to 30 minutes and I am still wanting more when it ends is something else.Ishq - Orchid (The Dakini 2CD version) Beautiful natural ambient for a summers day Atrium Carceri - Seishinbyouin Dark ambient set in a Japanese mental hospitalThe Infinity Project - Mystical Experiences Spacey psy-ambient but still greatSolar Fields - Extended Really cold beautiful atmospheresThe Circular Ruins - The Alchemy Concert I am pleasantly surprised every time I put it on. I can never remember anything except that I love it and therefore it is always new.False Mirror - Chronostatic Scenes Dark, wet lovlinessKrill.Minima - Nautica My perfect by the ocean albumCymphonic - Strataradialis Some really nice descriptive tracks Gus Till - Aquana Vol.1 - Stillness Something even my girlfriend likes. Really really lush natural sounds Juno Reactor - Luciana Just one long dark ambient track, revisits itself and really has time to discover its inner reachesNunc Stans - The Palm At The End Of The Mind Puts me in mind of bleak grey countrysideColourform - Visions Of Surya Like veing inside an alien on acid's head without anything banging awayShaolin Wooden Men - A Binary Input To Flesh Antenna Great weirdnessThe Circular Ruins - Falling Into The Sky Especially Immer Du, this album just has wonderful soundscapesIshvara - Magik Square of the Sun Like colourform but more mehanicalSpielerei & Mantacoup - Cold War Like a nuclear winter put on the soundwavesTetsu Inoue - Ambiant Otaku Great sparkly space ambient

And a few compilations tooThe Mystery Of The Yeti (TIP Records) A nice themed album showing the ambient side of psy-trance producers quite wellThe Mystery Of The Yeti Part 2 (TIP Records) An even better follow up.Collection 1: Opening (Databloem) My favourite spacey ambient compOxycanta (Ultimae Records) Some lush ambient tunes with some psy/natural/spacey elements

Eno/Fripp: Evening Star. In my opinion, much better than "No Pussyfooting" and the pre-Frippertronic tape looping is fascinating from an esthetic stand point as well as a historic one.

Eno: Music for Airports. I echo Mr. Vnuk's sentiment.

Eno: Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks.

Steve Roach: Structures from Silence. Still my fave of Roach's which is not a disparagment of the rest of his catalog which is impressive.

Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return

Michael Brook: Cobalt Blue. Not necessarly 100% ambient but a good one from one of the Eno-family tree.

Peter Gabriel: Passion. Again, I concur 100% with Paul's sentiment. When I saw "The Last Temptation of Christ", I was bored to tears with the movie but the music just floored me. That one is one of my "desert island" CD's for sure.